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Human Union
The Human Union (H.U.; two other formal names: rénlèi liánméng, unión humana) is a federal republic comprised of eight groups of member-states, three self-governing territories, and several hundred outlying possessions. The Human Union has a population of 15.3 billion, making it the fourth most populous sovereign state. The vast majority of this population resides on Earth (11.6 billion), Centauri (2.1 billion), Mars (.8 billion), or Ross (.7 billion). Other than the Govindan Empire, the Human Union is the only country to control inhabited planets in more than one planetary system. Humans evolved on Earth from unicellular organisms over 3.5 billion years, becoming the dominant life form on the planet in the last several thousand years. The Govindan Empire terminated that human preeminence in 2019, conquering Earth in a matter of weeks. Yet the human population resisted Govindan rule, carrying out a brutal insurgency for two decades before finally driving the Govindans from the planet in 2038. The Human Alliance, an ad hoc organization of rebel groups, came together to form to form the Human Union at that time, feeling it necessary to unite all of humanity in order to defeat the Govindan Empire. Despite some resistance, the Human Union had taken control of the entire planet by 2040, and then used stolen Govindan technology to prosecute the Interstellar Uprising. The Humans and Govindans made peace as part of the 2047 Centauri Accords. The Human Union is a founding member of the Association of Liberated States and the Interstellar Economic Organization. The H.U. has the known universe's largest economy in terms of both nominal and PPP GDP. The country is largely post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of service and knowledge-based industries, yet it still has a sizable traditional industrial sector. The H.U. economy accounts for 41.9% of the total known economy, despite only 14.8% of all sentient beings residing in H.U. space. The Human Union ranks as the highest nation in several measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, and productivity per person. Yet the state struggles with substantial economic inequality, particularly when comparing conditions on Earth to conditions elsewhere in the Human Union and when comparing conditions for humans to conditions for immigrants. The H.U. is a leading military power in the galaxy, and its defense budget made-up one-third of interstellar military spending in 2116. The Human Union is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally, thanks in large part to its rebellion's destabilizing impact on the Govindan Empire. Government and politics The Human Union is a federation and representative democracy. The H.U. political system operates under the Union Charter, a constitution that grants extremely limited powers to the federal government while allowing its member-states all other authority. The central administration possesses authority only over national security policy, foreign policy including interstellar trade policy, immigration policy including rules of naturalization, human rights, the enforcement of the charter itself, and governance of space, colonies, and the territories. The federal government can levy tariffs, impose Union membership fees on member-states, make expenditures, issue bonds, and take other actions, but only as necessary and appropriate to support its exercise of these powers. The 311 member-states that comprise the union thus retain the lion's share of governmental authority. The unicameral Union Parliament constitutes the fused executive and legislative branch of the federal government. The Parliament may enact and repeal laws, ratify treaties, appoint and recall the Prime Minister, and appoint and impeach most federal judges. The Prime Minister possesses only those powers granted by Parliament, which are generally very limited in nature. The 311 member-states of the union are organized into 8 regional organizations, each of which selects in accordance with such procedures as it may prescribe members of Parliament to represent it for such terms as it prescribes. Following each decennial census, seats in Parliament are apportioned amongst the regional organizations based upon population with the least populous organization receiving one seat, and each other region receiving a number of seats calculated by dividing its population by that of the least populous organization. The Union Supreme Court hears appeals from a complicated system of member-state supreme courts, territorial supreme courts, and international judicial institutions, as well as from the small federal judiciary. The Supreme Court is comprised of a Chief Justice appointed by the Union Parliament and eight Justices, one appointed by each regional organization. The small federal judiciary is comprised of a single five-member appeals court, the Union Court of Appeals, and three trial courts, the Union Court of Interstellar Trade, the Union Court of Federal Claims, and the Union General Court. The 9 Union Supreme Court Justices and the 32 federal judges serve for 20-year terms, or until age 70, whichever comes later, except when impeached for misconduct or neglect. The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review over both the Union and its member-states, and its decisions create binding precedent in accordance with common law principles.